Obituary
Otto Lehrman

Otto Lehrman, 96, was born in Kansas to Henry and Justina Lehrman. Otto was the second youngest child of six siblings. He attended school until the eighth grade at which time his strength and labor were needed on the family farm. Despite having never left the state of Kansas, at age 17, Otto requested his father sign the required documents to join the United States Navy to serve in WWII alongside his two brothers. He was sent by train over three days and three nights to San Diego, California, for ten weeks of bootcamp. In 1945, he was placed on the USS Blue DD, a destroyer, joining seven other ships in the Pacific Ocean primarily focused on seeking invader submarines in Guam, Saipan, Manila, The Mariana Islands, Taiwan, and Shanghai, China. He recalled a span of 39 days straight cruising where he never saw land. His job as Shipfitter (carpenters’ mate) included maintaining the ship, fixing anything broken, and even welding. Upon anchor he served as a guard at many supply depot ports. During general quarters (combat) he was a gunner. After 13-months he returned to San Francisco,
California’s Treasure Island, excited to see the United States of America; however, his time home was short-lived as he was immediately placed on the USS St. Paul CA 73, a cruiser. His stationing spanned three years until the end of WWII.
Soon after his return, his life was forever changed at Newton’s Candy Corner where he met the love of his life Phyllis. Otto
married Phyllis (Havens) Lehrman on May 29, 1949. Otto and Phyllis raised their four sons in Newton, Kansas, where Otto coached
little league baseball and was an active bowler.
He started his career at the Santa Fe Railroad where he began as a floor sweep and worked up to Superintendent of the Rail Mill at the time of his retirement. In addition to working for the railroad he also painted houses, drove taxi, and worked for a local
electrician. Otto was an active member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles where he served as President in the mid-60s.
Otto and Phyllis would often take their young family camping in Colorado. Later they fell in love with a place called Tanglewood Acres near Westcliffe. They were fortunate to purchase a small plot of land in Tanglewood and in 1984. He and Phyllis retired to
the cabin they built there. They lived on the mountain independently for the last 40 years, meeting eternal life in a home they perfectly and masterfully crafted.
After building his home, he continued to enjoy carpentry and crafted innumerable fine wood projects for his boys, and later his grandchildren. He served as a resource to many other Tanglewood Acres residents, fulfilling various projects and even constructing a covered bridge over a small creek entering the community, but one of his favorite projects was riding his tractor to plow the road in spring, summer, and winter or driving his Scout through high alpine dirt roads.
Otto and Phyllis enjoyed traveling and shared fond memories of those who visited them as camp hosts in Yellowstone, snowbirds along the California
coast and in their later years Laughlin, Nevada. Many of their children and grandchildren were fortunate enough to travel
with them creating numerous memories.
Most of all, Otto loved spending time in the mountains fishing, hiking, and hunting with his sons, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. He logged over 1,600 miles of hiking to the Colorado high-mountain lakes, making his last trip when he was 83. Many memories were made in the early morning hours of a quiet hike and the late afternoon rainstorms that often struck as he was hiking back down the mountain after a day of fishing. He even had a special affinity for catching chipmunks and outsmarting a squirrel on the birdfeeder, memories that all of the family shares.
Although he was at times formidable, his humor was infectious, and his stories were enthralling. Perhaps the two most important lessons he taught any of us was through hard work and dedication you can fix just about anything and more importantly, that loving and cherishing family comes first, an example that will carry forward for generations to come. He was a hard worker, loving husband and a devoted family man. He was the most intelligent person any of us have ever known.
Otto was greeted in eternity by his Lord and Savior on May 1, 2024. We are sure that holding his hand was his wife, Phyllis of 74 years; son, Dean; parents, Heinrich and Justina; brothers and sisters, Rubie, Carl, Ralph, Sara, Walter and Kathleen; and other close family and friends who preceded him. We are assured it was a joyous, heavenly reunion although, our earthly hearts ache. Otto is remembered by his daughter-in law, Vicki; sons, Robin (Susan), Gary (Marsha), Kevin (Irene); grandchildren, Jeremy Lehrman, Sara Lehrman, Jody Schmidt (Craig), Jamie Giles (Ryan), Julie Robinson, Justin Lehrman (Tara), Maggie Lehrman, Erin Rosfeld (Kerry), and Luke Lehrman (Jenna), 23 great-grandchildren, and one great-great grand-child. His presence will be missed by many other friends who he considered family.
A private service will be held in Colorado and Kansas at a future date.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be sent in his memory to Tanglewood Acres at 4624 NW 161st Edmond, OK 73013.

Press Release
With the ups and downs in recent weather it may not be easy to turn our thoughts to trail maintenance, BUT “actual” summer is just around the corner! Trails for All (TfA) has developed a schedule for this summer’s trail maintenance which begins on Saturday, June 1st. Shelly Larson is excited to lead our first group of volunteers up (and down!) Lion’s Canyon Trail. Maybe you could join this crew (or one later in the summer). The Lion’s Canyon Trail workday is a particularly good one to start the season—it’s lower elevation (in the Wets), mostly limited to daylighting, and a reasonably short hike (less than five miles). Trail maintenance with like-minded Trails for All volunteers is rewarding, useful, and fun. We really hope you’ll consider joining a crew this summer.
TRAILS FOR ALL 2024 TRAIL MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE

• June 1, Saturday, Lion’s Canyon Trail, Shelly Larson, crew leader
• June 15, Saturday, Comanche/Venable (one or both trails),
• Andrew Todd, crew leader and a co-leader if we do both trails
• June 29, Saturday, Comanche/Venable (whichever trail needs more attention), Rob Bidner, crew leader
• July 11, Thursday, Cottonwood Trail, Shelly Larson, crew leader
• July 23, Tuesday, North Taylor Creek Trail, Chuck Ziehr, crew leader
• August 3, Saturday, Goodwin Lakes Trail, Karen Foley, crew leader
• August 17, Saturday, Dry Creek Trail, Rob Bidner, crew leader

If you can volunteer for one or more of these trail maintenance workdays, please email Chuck Ziehr (TfA trail maintenance
coordinator) at cziehr@trailsforall.co.

TRAILS FOR ALL RAINBOW TRAIL SIGNAGE PROJECT
Trails for All (under the leadership of Andew Todd)
has received a grant of $6,300 from Athletic Brewing to replace signs on the Rainbow Trail. The signs have been approved by the USFS and are being professionally made and will be ready soon. We’ll need a few volunteers (probably in late May and early June) to help with sign installation. Watch our Facebook page for a schedule of workdays for the signage project.
Thank you very much.
For more information contact Chuck Ziehr, TfA trail maintenance coordinator cziehr@trailsforall.co

website: https://www.trailsforall.co/

2nd Annual Gathering of the Westcliffe Band of Brothers Planned

Press Release
We are excited to announce our Second Annual Gathering of the Westcliffe Band of Brothers. JUNE 1st, starting at 10 a.m. or come earlier to help set up for the day. Where: Michael Tschanz’s The Nest will be hosting us again. Located at 1430 Williams Creek Road, Gardner, CO 81040.
We have three main events. In addition, there will be opportunities to play horseshoes, hike, ride ATVs, play volleyball, etc.
(1) Starting at 10 a.m.: short and long-range target practice.
(2) Lunch from 12-2 p.m. Smoked and pulled pork, turkey fried in peanut oil, and pork and beef-filled chili.
(3) From 2 – 4 p.m.: (a) Hand-to-hand self defense tactics and
practice. (b) Indian knife and tomahawk throwing.
(4) Michael leads Bible Study and prayer time from 4-5 p.m.
(5) Overnight Campout with awesome dinner, special time together, breakfast, and sunrise service led by Pastor Richard Desmond!
Brett: (719) 371 – 0021;
Michael:(303) 999 – 5115
This is an extremely relevant gathering on June 1st, as we consider and practice methods to control the growing unrestrained violence in our daily lives. The first thing that must be considered is a historical perspective. I minored in history in college and have enjoyed studying history ever since. The reason history repeats itself is simple. Mankind is born with a pride-filled nature, and destiny apart from God is inevitable unless one’s life is changed.
If we look at the Bible, the Logos—God’s Word to us—it provides direction for life and answers the very problem we are discussing. This underlying historical problem was so critically important that the Logos took on human flesh over 2,000 years ago. Born in Bethlehem, a Nazarene, Jesus, The Messiah, was God in human flesh. He came to live among us as the world beheld the glory of God in human flesh.

Why was Jesus’ life so critically important?
John 3:1-7 (NLT) gives us the story of an old man asking Jesus a life-changing question. “There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’”
From the above, we see that Nicodemus was concerned about death. As I think most of us are. As an old man, he asked Jesus how a man could be “born again” and avoid eternity separated from God. Jesus’ answer was simple but profound.
Jesus’ second equally critical command is to love our neighbor as ourselves. And who is our neighbor? Look around—just about everybody you see and come into contact with in some way or another throughout your day.
Matthew 22:36-40 (NLT)
36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” 37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
Protecting life for eternity is a very big and important question. The answer is simple, and it is wrapped in humility, trust, and faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Messiah, who gave His life in substitution for ours! Jesus’ sin-free life is credited to our
account! All we need to do is simply follow Nicodemus’ example and be born of water and the Holy Spirit of God.
What about protecting life here on earth? How do we try to get a handle on when and how much violence is appropriate?
To me, the foundation for this system must be built on God’s love, agape. Love prevails over all because God is love. Therefore, there is a clear direction to this second situation.
Murder is always sinful in Scripture while killing is condoned. For example, you wake up at night when someone breaks into your house. You don’t know what they are packing or what they came to do, so in self-defense, you shoot them. This is a justifiable killing.
However, if someone breaks into your house in the daytime and is unarmed and either puts his hands up or runs away, but you shoot and kill that person, that is murder. Just because you can kill someone doesn’t mean you should. There are times when soldiers in war and police officers must take someone’s life. There are times when they kill wrongly as well. Always remember that we must be wise in all situations. There is a time for everything and sometimes there is a time to kill.
God takes it even deeper, 1 John 3:15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
So, as we come together to celebrate God’s gift of eternal life and brotherly love on June 1st, our appreciation of God’s guidance in these areas is very important. We will be shooting rifles and pistols at targets to sharpen our hunting skills and self-defense techniques. We will also learn practical methods of hand-to-hand self-defense and how to be more aware of our surroundings.
This year, we will also learn how to throw knives and hatchets like our forefathers!
Over the years, I have developed strong opinions about self-defense that combine God’s leadership with techniques that complement His leadership.
Shooting is my last choice for self-defense for a number of reasons. It is proven that in a potentially deadly situation, if the attacker is 20 feet or closer, a gun is not as effective as an empty hand or a knife/stick hand response. Secondly, shooting a pistol or rifle is quite difficult to minimize the damage effectively. Thirdly, If you find yourself in a situation where someone is shooting back at you, you have no idea how you will respond to such a threat. So, I would use a rifle or pistol to intimidate someone and, last of all, if absolutely necessary to take a life.